PADUCAH - Paducah-based Paxton Media Group has bought the Kentucky New Era and four other newspapers.

Taylor Hayes is the publisher-editor of the Kentucky New Era. He said in a news release it was important to his family to keep the Hopkinsville paper in the commonwealth and pass it on to another family.

The Kentucky New Era Group announced the sale on Friday. It includes the Dawson Springs Progress, the Princeton Times Leader, the Providence Journal-Enterprise and the Oak Grove Eagle Post. The company also has a contract to publish the official weekly paper of the Fort Campbell Army Base.

According to the news release, Paxton Media owns more than 35 daily newspapers, a television station and numerous weekly publications, primarily in the south.

Almost all daily newspapers now concentrate on local news. For all practical purposes, the only American papers still doing national and international reporting are The New York Times and The Washington Post. Even with those papers, most of their readers get the electronic versions.